


empty and inundated

by themoonsaidno



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: A LIL EMO, M/M, i had thoughts so link has thoughts, some gay pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 15:57:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20603450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themoonsaidno/pseuds/themoonsaidno
Summary: after being encircled in rapturous applause and praise, link is uncharacteristically overwhelmed by the place the zora domain has and has had in his life.





	empty and inundated

Link walked out of the throne room feeling heavier than usual.

Yes, he had just equipped a new weapon, Mipha’s Trident, so it was to be expected in a way. But that wasn’t it. The extra weight he could carry physically, but the image of King Dorephan’s earnest face - so thankful, so honest in spite of everything he had done and failed to do - that he couldn’t. 

The king’s words echoed within him too. Mipha loved him. Someone  _loved_ him. Someone loved  _him_.  But  _ someone  _ loved him - someone he could barely remember. Despite wearing the armor for a wedding she would never have and wearing the last gift she could ever give, he still couldn’t remember  _ her  _ beyond anecdotes.

That guilt gnawed at him from the inside out. He guessed he knew the daughter Dorephan would watch until the last of his days from his balcony and the sister Prince Sidon only half knew. But he couldn’t remember his friend, which, as selfish as he thought it was, was what mattered to him most.

Her spirit had smiled so kindly at him when he freed Ruta. He tried to smile back, but he was too overwhelmed by the unfamiliarity of her gaze. It upset him. In her gracious face, he had hoped and prayed he’d see another memory - one of them young, running through the mountains that surrounded the Zora’s domain. He wanted to see her bandage his wounds like she had said. He wanted to see the Zora children he played with or why he had been there at all. But nothing came. He was blessed and she was gone, with her a whole past he would only get to see in fractures.

He looked down at the weapon. The coolness of the metal in his hands felt unreasonably foreign, just like the faces around him. Did he really deserve this? Any of it? It wasn’t just the trident but the cheers and the thank you’s and the smiles and the gifts. It was too much. Everything was just too much. Gripping the trident tightly, he put it away, hoping his anxiety went with it.

His eyes blinked curiously and looked the domain properly this time. Without the incessant rain, it was strikingly beautiful - as ethereal as a luminous stone in the night. He had traveled so far already - had seen snow and fire and sand and lightning - but not one place in all of Hyrule looked like this. Hidden in the mountains, it was literally a jewel, but it wasn’t cold or untouchable. It was alive. There were families and children and old people who hated him. But there something more, maybe in that constant howl of the wind. It had its own charm, like a song one feels in their chest. Plus, he had always liked the color blue.

Interrupting his moment of peace, he saw a dark shadow crawl leisurely at his feet. Spinning around instinctively, he already had a hand on his newly equipped broadsword. He scanned the sky for the source with no real plan but had electricity in his veins to make up for it. His heart dropped to his stomach when he finally spotted the source of the sudden darkness. 

It was just the sun. 

It was 5:00pm. It was sunset. As the soft yellow rays crept above the forest, it shrouded the domain in a cool shadow. He shook his head. He always forgot what calm felt like.

The realization didn’t make him any less agitated though. Adrenaline made his heart beat in his head. He couldn’t stay here - on the steps to the throne room or even  here in general. He ran down the steps frantically, nowhere in mind. He was just about to jump down further and run away to the nearest shrine when he saw him. 

Hands dutifully behind him, Prince Sidon stood pensively on the balcony directly beneath the throne room, a staircase flanking symmetrically both his sides. Link could not help but admire how kingly he looked right there and then. He was as ethereal and imposing as the kingdom he would eventually preside over. Against the backdrop of the deep green trees and Vah Ruta, Link was painfully sure of it. A part of him wanted to still jump, but this wasn’t just another village he was passing through. He had to say goodbye.

Link climbed the steps with a lot less panic, first looking at the statue of Mipha as he rose and then to Ruta in the distance. Sidon was paying him no mind when the champion finally arrived at the alcove. The prince’s sharp yellow eyes were searching to a horizon far beyond the elephant in the way.

“Oh, Link!” the royal exclaimed when he finally noticed him. His trademark smile was as dazzling and welcoming as ever. “I must thank you! You somehow overcame the objections of the old geezers on our council, all to help save our home! Yes, you are treasure of a Hylian!”

He spoke so warmly, but there was a noticeable difference from...whatever that was at the throne. He still sounded sincere, obviously. But he was more...demure?  Whatever , Link chastised himself internally; he was overthinking this.

“Taking time out of your journey to come to our rain- and monster-ridden home...” the prince continued, “and here you activated those orbs with shock arrows, freed Ruta, and released my sister from her lingering regret.

“Link...” Sidon shuffled in place a bit. His voice dropped as he proceeded, which made Link nervous for some reason. “I simply can’t thank you enough. Especially for following me to the end, pushy and unreasonable as I am!” he added with a bashful chuckle.

Link immediately put up his hands in protest. With absolute certainty, he was as sure as Octoroks are the devil that Sidon was at the bottom of the list of pushy people he had encountered since waking up.

Sidon waved him down though. The heir felt warm. He had already thanked the hero; this was a tad bit pointless. But he couldn’t stop himself. “Zora’s domain would still be in peril if not for you.” His face was positively burning at this time. He turned towards Ruta again, looking away from Link. “You are welcome anytime, and we are ever at your service.” He was sure his cheeks were as red as the rest him now. What he didn’t know was that Link was suffering just as much. 

Any praise made him uncomfortable because a part of him felt unworthy of being treated like some legend. But Sidon was sincere - painfully so. The blond was just about to melt unto the tile.

“Have I mentioned how incredible you are?” Sidon suddenly yelped. All subtlety be fucking damned now. “And how thankful I am? Because you are!” He practically giggled. “And I am! Yes, you are the greatest of Hylians and,” he finally turned back to Link, his face alight with unabashed joy, “my most treasured friend for all time.”

And so Link laughed - a high, cracked sound, like a long-forgotten door opening for the first time in a while. Sidon was ready to retract every sentence he had ever uttered since birth, but was held captive by Link in that moment. The Hylian was doubled over the railing of the balcony, a smile as wide as any sea on his face. Not that Link had much decorum in the first place, but there was something so enchanting, in all honesty, to Sidon as Link behaved so...naturally, like he had no second thought for once. He wondered if this was how Mipha had seen him.

Link, mid-squawk, stopped abruptly as he saw Sidon looking down at him. Averting his eyes, he was embarrassed and his fuchsia cheeks confirmed so. He never meant to laugh, but, per usual, he was at a lose for words. But instead of hiding behind a blank stare, but he felt compelled -  willed \- to actually express himself in anyway he could. It just so happened he was delirious enough to laugh.

He felt incredulous, but happy. This was the only time he even felt an actual emotion since he had awakened that was  his . He couldn’t explain how. All he knew was that it belonged to him now and not the Link he strove to be. 

All this time, he felt dragged by his past. He was bound by duty to complete a job he doesn’t even remember accepting. He felt forced to live up to a version of himself that was as estranged from him as the world he was reborn into. How he in the present felt did not seem to matter - not with considering the constant reminder people were waiting for him for a hundred years.

Maybe he had wanted all this whatever it was, but the him now - today, right now - didn’t. 

In the Zora domain, this was the first time he was treated as Link the person and not as the champion of Hyrule, the poor fool with the errand of saving everybody’s life. He was Link, Linny, the Hylian that Mipha chased after. He was not expected to be anyone else. It was a strange situation. It was that same past that felt like a vice any other time that now made him feel human again. Maybe it was because here he was whole even if he didn’t have all the pieces.

Recalling something he once had called manners, Link composed himself. He stood at attention and bowed to Prince Sidon, who, caught completely off guard, bowed back in turn. As they both straightened back up, their eyes locked and all was understood. Nothing more had to be said.

Link respectfully walked back and finally descended the staircase when Sidon formally dismissed him. The royal nodded wistfully, counting the hero’s steps as he went away.

Halfway down, though, Link stopped and made the mistake of looking back. The prince had already turned his attention back to Ruta, his forehead furrowed somewhere between darkly and curiously. Nonetheless, he was striking, every detail of him an emblem of exception even if Link wouldn’t know where to start. 

Link took out his Sheikah slate and took a picture. It was a poor rendition of the real thing, but it captured Sidon’s profile, strong and competent. Even from afar, one was victim to his air of grace and power and inviting warmth. As a photo, Link could carry his electric atmosphere with him and that gave him some reassurance. 

There was a pang in Link’s chest for moment. This was admiration, he assumed.

For the next few hours, Link spent as much time as he could in the domain. Running up and down, he spoke to everybody who would pay him mind. There were many thanks and gushing praises. Lots of requests too, of course. Find my kid, find my wife, find me an...engaged couple? He didn’t care though. Even as he tried a good six times to dive beautifully (he guessed) for Gruve, he was desperate for any excuse that would guarantee he’d return. 

Finally, after failing to find Trello to inquire about that song those children were singing, he knew it was time. He had no reason to be there any longer. The hero had saved the day. As he stood in the plaza in front of Ne’ez Yohma shrine, he had to come to terms with his mission being complete. He had to go.

For one last time, he made a point of indulging in the sights around him. The light of the night sky made the castle of white gleam like a second moon, the shimmering water of the canals were another set of stars. All was quiet except for the wind singing its own song. Link felt empty and inundated all at once. Being honest in the light that shrouded him, he wondered if leaving home the first time had made his chest ache this much.

He started out walking. Then, he was jogging. Then, before he knew it, he was running. The humming wind was now a roar in his ears. He ran past by Bazz on patrol, Fronk still at work, and Rivan and Dunma guarding the entrance, their faces friendly and hazy. He sprinted and sprinted with no regard for his stamina, the silver arches above the bridge merely a blur against the black sky.

All at once, the wind stopped and so did the sound of his feet tapping against tile. It was replaced by the rustle of the trees, the chirps of the crickets, and soft grass beneath him. The difference was dizzying. He felt queasy from the whiplash.

Alone, he stripped himself of his Zora armor and greaves and took off his opal earrings. He changed into his Sheikah armor. He felt safer if the monsters couldn’t hear him.

As he tied his hair up, he was reminded how this all started in the first place. He had been in Rito village, just conquered another shrine. With four spirit orbs, he had teleported Kakariko village because he just liked the goddess statue there. The plan was to go and come back to finish another shrine close by before visiting the Rito elders. However, when he arrived at the Ta’loh Naeg shrine, he accidentally had turned right instead of left. He noticed an unvisited shrine just right there in the open wetlands. After collecting another heart container, he ventured in that direction, thinking it was just a small detour before going back north. But he saw another shrine. And how close the Lanayru tower was. One thing led to another and before he could even register his decision, he was climbing up a winding, wet path in his rubber armor and topaz earrings, risking at least four types of deaths to see an occasional smile from the river.

It was 8:40pm and there was a full moon just above the Zora domain. He didn’t remember seeing the sky so clearly, with stars studded so piercingly, when he had first arrived. Or anywhere, for that matter. The scene was so picturesque, the sweetness made him gag.

Link wondered if when Sidon saw the stars from now on, he’d think of him.

**Author's Note:**

> so, basically i beat vah ruta yesterday and i got hella emo. since link is supposed to a player stand-in, i’ve never really thought hard about him as a character. but with this divine beast, it was hard to think that link has a past separate from being zelda’s aide.
> 
> this was all based on my gameplay, actually. it’s just dramatized. 
> 
> lastly, i personally transcribed sidon’s dialogue from the game, but i made a mistake at the end: i wrote “of for all time,” so i don’t know which is correct. so i just chose the gayest option
> 
> thanks for reading! ^^
> 
> EDIT: if you enjoyed this, please consider reading my on-going series, frenetic! it's also based off my own gameplay, but, this time, is narrated by link ^^


End file.
